Introduction to Personnel Management
Mary L. Gillaspy, MLS, MS
Manager
Health Learning Centers
Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Galter 3-304
251 E. Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60611
Consumer health information services are staffed in a variety of ways. Staffing depends on several factors, including where the service is located, scope of the services offered, and available budget. Many "solo" services exist and offer assistance either within a larger entity, such as an academic health sciences library or hospital library, or as a stand-alone service in a hospital or clinic. Most public libraries offer significant services in this area.
CHIS entities that offer comprehensive services, whatever the venue, are best staffed in a multidisciplinary way. Possibilities include librarians (medical, special, or public), health educators, nurses, social workers, and public health professionals. Volunteers will almost always be part of the mix.
Every situation is unique and will require its own mix of personnel. Any CHIS, however, will require certain personality traits and skill sets in its employees. Personnel should have strong interpersonal skills, ability to assess information need and learning style, and a penchant for lifelong learning. As Brawn remarked in a 2005 article, "This type of library requires an information professional with extraordinary people skills. In fact, superb bedside manner should be personified in consumer health libraries." [1] Consumer health libraries offer "services and resources not available . . . from other types of libraries." Moreover, they offer a unique opportunity for librarians to supply "health information that changes people's lives." [2]Regardless of professional training, everyone working in a CHIS should know the resources in both the collection and the community so they can refer patrons appropriately.
In hospital or clinic settings, CHIS personnel are well advised to engage with nurses and other health professionals who deliver patient education. Consumer health information and patient education are complementary services and need not compete. Still, in places where relationships have not been established and maintained, tension exists between the groups, as noted by Kennedy, Kiken, and Shipman. [3]
This section offers sample training programs and manual contents for volunteers, job description wording, "The Librarian’s Role in the Provision of Consumer Health Information and Patient Education," sample job advertisements, and related materials.
[1] Brawn TS. 2005. Consumer health libraries: what do patrons really want? Journal of the Medical Library Association. 93(4):495–496. October 2005.
[2] Hammond PA. 2005. Consumer health librarian. Reference Services Review. 33(1):38-43.
[3] Kennedy MG, Kiken L, and Shipman JP. 2008. Addressing underutilization of consumer health information resource centers: a formative study. Journal of the Medical Library Association. 96(1):42–49. January 2008.